#pacific
Australian Army’s 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) is trialling Stealth Reconnaissance E-Bikes in conjunction with the Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle.
The bikes are quiet and allow reconnaissance soldiers to move quickly through the battlefield, and with a range of up to 100km allow soldiers to travel long distances to gather the information they need.
Post link
Sālote Tupou III 1900-1965
Sālote Tupou was queen regnant of Tonga in the early 1900s. She was a very tall woman at 6ft 3in and ascended the throne at the age of 18. She married Viliami Tungi, this marriage united feuding dynasties. She ensured the mapping of Tonga archeological sites which led to in depth studies of Tongan history. Sālote also wrote dance songs and love poems such as Lakalaka.
Sālote brought international recognition to Togna when attending the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London. She was seen as an endearing figure when she rode through the streets in an open carriage happily waving in the rain.
She died in 1965 and was deeply mourned by her people. Her body rests in Tonga.
#Islandgirlsrock #tbt #throwbackthursday #herstory #tonga #queen #monarchy #culture #power #polynesian #pacific #women
Post link
“I definitely have the eye of the tiger. I’ve fought my way to where I am and will continue to do so. I’m a hard worker - I get it from my family. We only know work. Nothing was handed to us. When I believe in something, I go after it. It’s very hard to tell me ‘no.’”
Nicole Scherzinger was born on June 29 in Honolulu, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Her father is of Filipino descent, from Batanes Island, Philippines. Her mother has Native Hawaiian and Ukrainian ancestry. She is of Filipino, Native Hawaiian, and Ukrainian descent. While attending a performing arts high school, she won the Coca-Cola Classic Talent Contest and performed in many plays at The Actors Theatre of Louisville. She then furthered her studies majoring in theater arts at Wright State University before entering the premiere season of the WB’s television show, Popstars (2000), where she earned the role of lead vocalist in the female pop group, “Eden’s Crush”. After reaching one-hit wonder success with girl group Eden’s Crush, she signed with Interscope Records in 2003 as a member of the Pussycat Dolls, a burlesque troupe turned-recording act. Throughout a career spanning 15 years, she has sold 16 million records as a solo artist, and a further 54 million with Pussycat Dolls, making the group one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Since her first chart entry in 2005, Scherzinger has also scored 20 top 20 hits on the UK Singles Chart. Outside of her work in the entertainment industry, Scherzinger is involved in charitable activities including her work as an ambassador for the Special Olympics. Also helping in a recent campaign to stop the building of telescopes on our sacred Mauna Kea on Hawaii. Big ups to sista @nicolescherzy
#Islandgirlsrock #Polynesian #pacific #women #Islandgirls #wearemaunakea #hawaii #tonga #samoa #fiji #aotearoa #rarotonga #tahiti #tuamotu #rapanui #rotuma #guam #saipan #chuuk #papuanewguinea #newcaledonia #vanuatu #tuesdayceleb
Post link
Matariki’s themes are stars, harvest and peace. Her symbols are stars and the number 7. In Polynesian tradition, this Goddess and Her six children became the Pleiades, and they continue to help humans by showing us when to begin harvesting the labors of hand or heart.
From mid- to late November the people of Hawaii take part in special rituals to celebrate the appearance of the Pleiades in the skies, which is the beginning of harvest season. In reverence for this occasion, all war is forbidden. It makes one wish that Matariki and her children appeared around the world all the time!
To the Maori, the Pleiades are Matariki and her six daughters: Tupu-a-Nuku, Tupu-a-Rangi, Wai-Tii, Wai-Ta, Wai-puna-Rangi, and Uru-Rangi. Matariki is the Māori name for the seven-star constellation that rises in the north-east before dawn in late May/early June. In Western astronomy it is known the Pleiades, and it forms the shoulder of Taurus the Bull. Matariki marks the start of a new phase of life. It is a time of festivity for Māori, the tangata whenua, or first people of New Zealand. Matariki is an important time in the Māori calendar and is associated with the start of the cold season when the pātaka kai (food storehouses) are full and the land is at its most unproductive.
The Matariki star constellation marked a time for starting all things new, this was a particularly important period for new crops to be planted and the preserving of old crops to be finished. When Matariki was sighted ceremonial offerings of food were planted for the gods Uenuku and Whiro to ensure a good harvest for the coming year. Even the stars themselves were looked upon for guidance as to how successful the coming season would be; the brighter the star constellation the warmer the year was destined and the better the harvest was thought to be.
Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises in mid-winter – late May or early June. For many Māori, it heralds the start of a new year. Matariki literally means the ‘eyes of god’ (mata ariki) or 'little eyes’ (mata riki).
#islandgirlsrock #spiritualsunday #polynesiangoddess #islandwoman #polynesia #pacific #matariki
Post link
Artwork: “Hina” by Herb Kane.
The greatest Polynesian Goddess was a complex figure of whom many myths were told. Like other major divinities, She was associated with many aspects of life and had many symbols: She was the tapa-beating woman who lived in the moon; She was Great Hina, the death mother; She was a warrior queen of the Island of Women. An all-inclusive divine archetype, Hina appeared in many Polynesian legends, some of which – not surprisingly, for such a complex and long-lived Goddess – contradicted others.
In some legends, Hina was said to have been created of red clay by the first man. But others – in Tahiti, for instance – knew Hina as the preeminent Goddess, for whose sexual pleasure the first man was created. This Goddess has two faces, one in front as humans do, one at the back of Her head. She was the first female being on earth, many bearing Her name.
One guise Hina wore was a warrior of the Island of Women, a place where no men were allowed, where trees alone impregnated the residents. A man washed up on the shore and slept with Hina, the ageless and beautiful leader. He stayed for some time. But every time She began to show Her years, Hina went surfing and came back renewed and restored. At the same time, Her human lover gradually bowed under the years. Hina returned the man to his people on a whale, which the humans impudently and imprudently killed. The whale was Hina’s brother, and She sent terrible sufferings on the people as a result.
Among all the many stories of Hina, however, probably the most commonly known one was that of the Goddess and Her lover, the eel. Living on earth as a mortal woman, Hina bathed in a quiet pool where, one day, She had intercourse with an eel. Her people, afraid of the power of the serpent, killed him, only to find that Hina had been mating with a god.
Furious and despairing at having Her affair so terminated, Hina took the eel’s head and buried it. Five nights later the first coconut there, a staple product thereafter to Hina’s folk.
#islandgirlsrock #spiritualsunday #polynesian #goddess #hina #sina #legend #mythology #pacific #queen #mother #herstory #moon #coconutorigins #treeoflife
Post link
